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Lub Letters from Japan: Raymond's TGS 2004 Blog

Enjoy the cute little notes and amusing anecdotes of a silly man writing an incredible woman during his trip of self discovery in Japan.

Monday, September 27Sayanora Tokyo! -- 8:44PM
Dear Snowflake,
Hmmmmm. I'm not really sure what time to stamp on this entry. 8:44 is what time it would be in Tokyo. Right now I'm somewhere over the Pacific Ocean so I'm not really sure what blogging rules apply here.
Temporal issues aside, I had SO much fun last night! Zoe and I went to Shinjuku for karaoke with Konami. Karaoke is a big part of the game writers' social scene in San Francisco, but this was by far the coolest karaoke experience I've ever had. The room was really nice, but more importantly you could order food and drink through the karaoke system! The menus were awesome too. Everything was listed by artist in the front of the big and by song in the back. They must print new menus every month because the back wasn't littered with those crappy add-on pages like in San Francisco Japan Town karaoke places.

Iga rocks the mic in Shinjuku.

So after singing the night away we got into more trouble in Shinjuku. It was fantastic hanging with everyone and catching up. It got a little crazy and it got a little sweet. Marc was killing everyone with his Mike Myers impersonation. It was so good that I was a little bit scared. Zoe turned the gathering into a continuation of my birthday party. She forced everyone to take turns saying nice things about me or telling nice Raymond stories. It was really touching and I got a major case of the warm fuzzies. I just wish you were there. More than any other night in Tokyo, this is the one where I wanted you around.
Okay, enough with the sappy / cutesy stuff. All in all it was an interesting Tokyo Game Show. There wasn't anything on display that really stole the show and it was surprising how subdued the atmosphere was considering there was a new system on display. Lots of publishers put forth a strong effort, but there wasn't really a showstopper. The three things that stood out for me were:

Zoe was the hero of Raymond's Birthday, Part II.

1) The Panasonic FOMA P900iv -- I could not get over how cool this keitai is. Sure it's the only mobile handset that can play Final Fantasy VII: Before Crisis, but the hardware is even cooler than the game. It's so sexy and looks wickedly powerful. I love the design and the ergonomics and the fact that it can take movie clips at 30 frames per second. I was really tempted to buy one even though its functionality would have been reduced to the not-so-practical capability of being the coolest paperweight in the western hemisphere. Zoe had a better idea; she suggested we find some skinny kid that had one and beat him up for it.
2) Wanda and the Colossus -- This is obvious pick and it seems lame, but seeing the video of Wanda was definitely one of my fanboy moments of the show. I can't wait to see more and play more. Its style is so unique. The short clip provoked more emotion from me than any other game on the show floor. As an added bonus, the last paragraph of Ben's preview really cracked me up.
3) Lumines -- Here's another cop out pick from me! Mizuguchi's upcoming PSP title was another darling with the journos at TGS. It's cool and slick and unique. Mizuguchi-san says that he's nowhere near done with it and that it's going to look even cooler by the time it's released. I thought it looked pretty damn cool already, so I can't wait to see where he takes it!
Well, I have about six more hours of flying left. Tokyo was really fun and really good for me, but I can't wait to get back to my life of working, boxing, eating at Tonayense, and going on adventures with you!
*sigh* I can't wait to see you!!!
LUB!!!
Raymond